Parole Work in Canada

Rosemary Ricciardelli is a professor (PhD) in the School of Maritime Studies and Research Chair in Safety, Security, and Wellness at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Fisheries and Maritime Institute. Elected to the Royal Society of Canada, her research centers on evolving understandings of gender, vulnerabilities, risk, and experiences and issues within different facets of the criminal justice system.Mark Norman is an assistant professor at St. Francis Xavier University whose research interests lie at the intersections of criminology, sociology, and health studies.Katharina Maier is an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg. She is interested in examining issues around punishment and penal governance, prisoner reentry and penal supervision, policing, urban poverty and social marginality, and the work of frontline penal actors.Micheal P. Taylor is qualifying for his PhD while researching responsivity and organizational learning in the Ocean and Public Safety Laboratory at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Fisheries and Maritime Institute. He is informed by his provincial practice, from 2016–2022, when he worked as a probation and parole officer.

Parole Work in Canada provides a nuanced understanding of the everyday risks and challenges that parole officers face by incorporating robust qualitative findings and relevant updated research. The authors dive into how parole officers literally embody their job through not only emotional labor, but also haptics (sense of touch), gendered appearance and manner, as well as how these transect with proxemics and use of space that can engender risk. The authors examine the intense allostatic load parole officers face, which is embedded in managerial practices and systems based on policies that are not always client- or employee-centered, creating deep dissonance. This book clearly demonstrates how the violence of incarceration is not relegated to those behind bars, but also permeates those at the front line of reintegrating individuals into society and their extended networks. The insights woven throughout the text would be of great value for those pursuing research on carceral systems, as well as policy makers and practitioners striving to vastly improve the lives of understudied, yet invaluable parole officers and others working towards a healthy and safe society.

• AbbreviationsChapter 1: Contextualizing Parole in CanadaPart I: Mental Health and Occupational Well-beingChapter 2: Mental Health and Well-Being: Unpacking the Impacts of Trauma in Parole WorkChapter 3: Experiences of Occupational Stress and BurnoutChapter 4: Parole Work During the COVID-19 PandemicPart II: Organizational StructureChapter 5: How Organizational Culture Shapes Parole Work and Well-BeingChapter 6: Nonverbal Communication and Perceptions of Interorganizational JusticeChapter 7: Coachability and Parole Workplace CulturePart III: Carceral SpacesChapter 8: Gender, Risk, and Presentation of Self in Institutional Parole WorkChapter 9: Understanding and Navigating Risk in a Carceral WorkspaceChapter 10: ConclusionBibliographyIndexAbout the Authors